Chapter 9 - The Reflection in the GlassThe video lasted eleven seconds.
Daniel watched it six times.
The camera itself faced the equipment enclosure.
But behind the enclosure stood the mansion’s glass sunroom.
The glass reflected part of the pool deck.
The image was distorted.
Yet recognizable.
Evelyn crouched beside Mia.
Yellow vest.
Cream clothing.
Gray-blonde hair.
She finished fastening something.
Then stood.
Then looked left.
Right.
Daniel’s stomach turned.
“That’s exactly what Mia said.”
Detective Cole nodded.
The next movement was less clear.
Evelyn bent toward Mia again.
Her hand moved near the vest.
The reflection did not reveal what she held.
Then the clip ended.
“That’s it?” Daniel asked.
“For this camera.”
“You can see her doing something.”
“We can see movement.”
“She checked whether anyone was watching.”
“That matters.”
“But it doesn’t show the punctures.”
“No.”
Daniel slammed his palm softly against the table.
Cole waited.
“There’s more,” she said.
He looked up.
“The camera’s tracker logged movement after it was removed from your property.”
“Where?”
“A commercial storage facility.”
Daniel frowned.
“Whose?”
“We’re obtaining records.”
“You think Evelyn took it there?”
“I think someone did.”
“What about the vest?”
“Still being analyzed.”
Daniel stared at the frozen reflection.
Evelyn’s face could barely be seen.
But Cooper could.
He was lying beneath the patio table.
His head was raised.
He was watching her.
Daniel leaned toward the screen.
“Stop.”
Cole paused the frame.
“Zoom on Cooper.”
The technician enlarged the area.
Grainy.
But clear enough.
Cooper’s body had gone rigid.
Daniel whispered, “He saw it.”
Cole looked at him.
“It proves the dog was present.”
Daniel shook his head.
“To you, maybe.”
He pointed at the screen.
“To me, that proves everything.”
When Daniel returned to the temporary rental house where he and Mia were staying, Cooper met him at the door.
Daniel knelt.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then he put both hands around the dog’s neck.
“I’m sorry.”
Cooper licked his chin.
Daniel laughed, but tears came with it.
“I’m sorry I didn’t listen.”
Mia ran from the hallway.
“Daddy crying?”
“No.”
“Yes.”
Daniel wiped his face.
“Maybe a little.”
Mia hugged Cooper.
“He good boy.”
“The best.”
That evening, Rebecca called.
Evelyn had formally filed for emergency temporary guardianship.
Her petition described Daniel as emotionally unstable, chronically exhausted and unable to provide safe supervision.
She included the pool incident.
She included Daniel’s own admission that he had been sleeping.
She even included statements from relatives saying they worried about him after Alyssa’s death.
“What happens now?” Daniel asked.
“There’ll be a hearing.”
“Can Mia stay with me?”
“Yes. No order has been entered changing custody.”
Daniel exhaled.
“There’s something else,” Rebecca said.
“What?”
“Evelyn attached a declaration.”
“From whom?”
“Leonard Shaw.”
Daniel went still.
The man receiving millions from Evelyn’s foundation had sworn under oath that Daniel had become “paranoid and obsessed with false financial conspiracies.”
Daniel stared at Cooper.
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The pool had stopped being Evelyn’s only battlefield.
Now she was trying to convince a court that anyone investigating her was insane.
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